Preparations for War As
Fighter Command expanded prior to the
Second World War, it was seen that a new Group was needed to command the air defences of Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the north of England. 13 Group was duly reformed in September 1939. During the initial stages of World War II, No. 13 Group was Commanded by
Air Vice Marshal Richard Saul.
The Dowding System in 13 Group Like the other groups into which fighter command were divided, No. 13 Group operated the
Dowding system of fighter control. The
13 Group HQ was at
Kenton, near
Newcastle upon Tyne with the Filter Room at nearby
Blakelaw Quarry. The sector airfields were: •
RAF Acklington •
RAF Dyce •
RAF Inverness •
RAF Turnhouse •
RAF Usworth •
RAF Wick Stations Besides the sector airfields, between 1940 and 1944, No. 13 Group used the following assets in its operations. The letter
A after a station name denotes an airfield, and a
R denotes a radar site that fed information into the group headquarters. • RAF Acklington
A •
RAF Aldergrove A • RAF Anstruther
R •
RAF Ayr A • RAF Bamburgh
R •
RAF Blakelaw HQ •
RAF Castletown A •
RAF Catterick A •
RAF Church Fenton A • RAF Cockburnspath
R • RAF Cresswell
R • RAF Dalcross
HQ •
RAF Danby Beacon R • RAF Doonies Hill
R • RAF Douglas Wood •
RAF Drem A • RAF Drone Hill
R • RAF Dyce
A • RAF Fair Isle
R •
RAF Grangemouth A • RAF Hillhead
R • RAF Inverness
HQ •
RAF Leconfield A •
RAF Leeming A • RAF Netherbutton
R • RAF Ottercops Moss
R •
RAF Ouston A •
RAF Prestwick A • RAF Rosehearty
R • RAF St Cyrus
R • RAF Schoolhill
R • RAF Shotton
R •
RAF Skeabrae A •
RAF Sumburgh A • RAF Thrumster
R • RAF Turnhouse
A •
RAF Usworth A •
RAF Wick A Battle of Britain As well as guarding the north during the
Battle of Britain, No. 13 Group also provided reserve squadrons and pilots to the more beleaguered
No. 11 Group, and provided quieter bases for squadrons to recuperate from operations. No. 13 Group also contributed to pilot education by producing its "Forget-Me-Nots for Fighters" brochure, that included a foreword by Air Vice-Marshal R. E. Saul. During the Battle of Britain, the Germans had faulty intelligence indicating that No. 13 Group had next to no fighters in operation (they believed that the only reason why No. 11 Group was still holding out was that No. 13 Group had been sending them down their available aircraft), so they had thought that any attacks made on Scotland would not face any serious resistance. This proved to be a costly mistake for the
Luftwaffe, as their bombers were intercepted by a large number of fighters. The bombers could not be escorted all the way to
Scotland from
Occupied Europe because of the short range of the
Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter aircraft, so the attacking bombers proved to be fodder for Saul's
Supermarine Spitfire and
Hawker Hurricane fighter squadrons. On 15 August 1940 the
Luftwaffe attempted its one and only daylight flank attack on Northern England. North East England was attacked by 65
Heinkel He 111 bombers, escorted by 34
Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters, and
RAF Driffield was attacked by 50 unescorted
Junkers Ju 88 multirole combat aircraft. Out of the 115 bombers and 35 fighters the
Luftwaffe sent, 16 bombers and 7 fighters were destroyed.
Post Battle of Britain After the Battle of Britain, 13 Group squadrons helped
RAF Coastal Command in patrolling for U-boats and providing air cover for convoys. New pilots would usually find themselves posted to a 13 Group squadron initially so as to gain experience with lesser risk of getting shot down. In June of 1943, No. 32 Wing of
RAF Army Cooperation Command was transferred to 13 Group, and so brought with it three further airfields to operate from;
Macmerry,
Kirknewton and
Findo Gask. In July 1943,
No. 14 Group was disbanded, and its assets and the area it covered, were absorbed into No. 13 Group. In August of the same year, the headquarters element was moved from Newcastle in England, to Inverness in Scotland. ==Post war==